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Monday, January 23, 2012

Finding Bigfoot - Alberta, Canada Field Notes

Looking at a map, it is clear that
Canada is a really big country, but it took visiting the eastern
slopes of the Canadian Rockies for its sheer vastness to really hit
home with me. The terrain is so big, and vistas so grand, that
describing it as awe-inspiring falls short of the real experience.

While there is more than ample room for
many sasquatches in the mountains outside of Calgary, Alberta, there
is not a great number of sightings on record. I think this can be
attributed to not only the huge amounts of land for the bigfoots to
inhabit, but also to the fairly small number of people.

Back in the 1970's,
veteran bigfooter John Green noticed the correlation between rain
fall bigfoot sightings. The eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies
receives significantly less precipitation than the mountains of
British Columbia to the west, and the number of sasquatch encounters
reported drops in proportion. To find a bigfoot in this vast
landscape would be harder than usual, and it's never an easy task.

We came to the area to
investigate a video obtained by Todd Standing. I heard about Todd
several years ago as a man who had supposedly obtained several pieces
of footage of sasquatches at a secret spot that he called “Sylvanic.”
He then put the clips together into some sort of film and was
showing it in small movie theaters around Canada. Not long after,
his name popped up again as a man who was lobbying the Canadian
parliament for official protection of sasquatches.

Todd Standing and Cliff Barackman

Having never really taken
the time to look closely at Todd's videos, I was pleased to be going
to meet him. I find that so much more information comes out when
speaking to the actual videographer, and it was an opportunity to
come to an informed opinion on Todd's work for myself .

We met Todd on a rainy day
in an empty campground where several bigfoot encounters had happended
over the previous several years. He refused to take a jacket or use
any rain gear, claiming it was not cold. He was soon shivering in a
wet, cotton shirt, maintaining his position that it was a nice day.

Todd is a very polite and
well-spoken man. I genuinely liked the guy, as well as his message regarding sasquatches: protect them, and let them be. He
has taken great strides to increase the public's awareness of
bigfoots through his actions. While these actions are labeled as
self-serving by his critics, the fact that attention was brought to
sasquatches is undeniable.

Todd currently lives in
Calgary, but he lived several hundred miles away when he obtained his
videos at Sylvanic. He told us that he could not take us to the
actual spot because it is a three-day hike back to this secluded
valley, and the last day would be spent belly crawling up a river bed
in a specially designed gillie suit made by Todd himself. He went on
to say that nobody wants to be back there because of the problem
grizzly bears that inhabit that area. He claimed that the rangers
say there is a 10% chance of being killed by a bear while in the
area, and it was too dangerous to go. It seemed to me that a bunch of
hurdles were put in the way of anyone wanting to see the location for
themselves. Todd did offer to take anyone there who wanted to go at
a later time, but it would take a week or two for the trek.

Questioning Todd, I soon
learned that at this time he had five videos that had bigfoots in
them. The first video is apparently only a sound recording with no
images of sasquatches (I didn't get to hear the recording). We investigated video number two, with the
creature quickly bending over out of sight while above Todd on a
hill. His third video shows what is either a bigfoot or a man in
suit running on a hillside. This creature is the same brownish
orange color as the creature in video number two. Video number four
is a close up of what appears to me to be a bigfoot puppet behind
some branches. Its dark eyes stare unblinking off to frame right,
and there is very little movement visible. The skin appears very
much like felt, and its fur lacks the flow pattern that one would
expect from a living creature. Video number five is a similar shot,
but with a much more convincing bigfoot head. It slightly resembles
Patty from the Patterson/Gimlin film, but with a rounder face and
more dog-like nose. Over the last month or so, there seems to have
been another still released showing this same head, but possibly from
another film.

I asked Todd what was up
with video number four, the one that looked like a Muppet head. He
said that he does not know why it looked so bad. He suggested that
the lighting might have made it appear that way.

We were to be
investigating his second video, the one with a brief glimpse of a
creature bending down facing away from the camera. The video is very
brief, but it seemed that it showed something bipedal and hairy. An
arm and even possible buttox muscles can be seen, or are at least
suggested. We were to rely solely on Todd's measurements since we were
unable to go to the actual film site. This would be problematic for
our reconstruction, as going to the actual film site is very
important for a sense of scale. Trusting someone's measurements when you're trying to find out if their film was hoaxed makes little sense anyways, but it's all we had to go on.

Todd claimed to have not even believed
in bigfoots at the time he obtained his second video. It was his
film flip that convinced him they were real. This was very peculiar to
me because he claimed to have made approximately a dozen trips to the
location trying to film a bigfoot by the time he got his video. He
chose Sylvanic as likely bigfoot habitat, and he even developed an
intricate theory of sasquatch social/family structure, all before he
believed in bigfoots. I personally don't believe that griffons
exist, and I don't plan expeditions based on how they would live (if
they were real) to see if I'm wrong...

Questioning Todd further, we found that he was
unaware of the elevation of the Sylvanic location. He said that he
never paid attention. This, if true, would be a very dangerous thing
to ignore, as we would soon find out during that night's
investigation (it snowed on us in August). How could Todd have chosen
a location, planned his hikes in (most likely using topographic
maps), visited a dozen times, and not noticed the elevation? This
seems very unlikely.

When investigating a film, I sometimes think of the late Rene Dahinden and his comments on the Patterson/Gimlin Film. He said that what you need to know is in the film. Certainly, Rene would think that the context of a film is very important, too, but I like to examine films starting with what is actually seen. Good films stand on their own,
and their context only serves to reinforce or put in doubt a clip's authenticity.

With so little to go on for video number two, I am left with not
knowing what is in it. The film looks like either a bigfoot or a guy
in a suit bending over. Since there is very little information to be
gleaned from the actual video, I have to rely on the context. Todd
was unable or unwilling to go to the actual spot, there were inconsistencies in his story surrounding the clip, and there's that
Muppet face staring, unblinking in film number four... These leave
me with serious doubts about what is shown in any of his videos.

Expressing my concerns to Todd, he
correctly stated that video will never be enough for proof. How
true. Todd goes on to say that only a body will ever suffice. As
much as I hope this isn't the case, it could very well be the grizzly
truth at the end of the bigfoot mystery.

We did the first night investigation in
a nearby valley. Ranae and Bobo headed up a trail while Matt and I
walked up a road. It was raining, but as my team gained elevation,
the precipitation quickly turned into a heavy snow. It was a dramatic
change from just a few days before when we were roasting in the
mosquito-filled swamps of Northern Minnesota. It was also a reminder of paying attention to your elevation. Ignoring such a
detail could prove to have fatal consequences here in the Canadian
Rockies, even in the middle of August.

The night investigation was relatively
quiet. Our calls were magnificent, though. The rocky walls of the
valley threw our vocalizations for literally miles in both direction.
We counted to see how long our echoes lasted after we stopped
calling: eight seconds. It was very cool.

The Canadian Rockies are amazing in their size.

The next day, we were to meet with
tribal representatives from the Stoney Nakota First Nations tribe.
The elders were considering helping us in our quest, but they wanted
to ask us some questions before they agreed. Bobo and I met Lenny
and Peter (a different Peter than the one who blessed us on camera)
for breakfast. After a short meeting, they realized that we were not
there with the intention to hurt sasquatches in any way. They shared that things are
changing, and the elders were interested in helping raise
consciousness about sasquatches. Lenny and Peter soon were comfortable that
Bobo and I had good hearts, and we shared some common goals and
ideas. They agreed to bless us in a smudge ceremony the following
day.

Lenny is a master tracker. He has had
several encounters with bigfoots on tribal lands over the years, and
gave us much to think about. He reminded us that there is more to
this world than what can be observed with the five senses, and he
shared his tribe's belief that sasquatches walk the line between two
worlds. He taught us about noticing the temperature differences at
different elevations within a valley, which dramatically affect the
direction of air currents at that level. He told us about the habits
of the deer, elk, and moose in the neighboring valleys. He reminded
us to trust our feelings and intuitions. He was obviously a master
tracker, and probably part Jedi who is clearly strong in the Force.

Our town hall had a pretty good turn
out, especially when considering the nasty weather that was hitting
the area. Many reports surfaced from the local area and as far away
as Edmonton. Lenny showed up to the meeting and addressed the crowd
for a few moments with his message as well.

The next day, Ranae and I met with
Tyler Huggins. Tyler saw a bigfoot while hiking with his brother and
a dog. The sasquatch darted across the trail just 15 or 20 feet in
front of his brother, while Tyler was a bit further back. Both
witnesses got a clear view of the creature. The sasquatch ran down a
very steep slope, hurdling logs and debris until it was out of sight.
Tyler then observed a large tree being violently shaken, though he
could only see the top of the tree, not the creature doing the
shaking. While Ranae kind of came a little close to replicating the running across the path,
she would not even attempt to sprint down the hill, let alone hurdle
the debris in her path.

While the crew was filming the recreation of Tyler's sighting, I walked up the trail a few hundred yards and then off into the brush a ways. Sitting in undergrowth and enjoying the quiet, I started looking around. Just from where I was sitting, I saw no less than five types of edible plants, including raspberries and rose hips. When you consider that I am unfamiliar with the plants of this region, there are probably many others growing nearby that are nutritious. It is clear how so many large mammals can live in this area. There is abundant food, at least in this time of year.

Wild roses and their seed pods called rose hips

The next day, all four of us interviewed Lonni and
Donna about their encounter. They were both attendees on a BFRO
expedition that lasted several days. Several occurrences hinted at
sasquatches being in the area, with the strongest evidence being the
rock that was thrown at the tent. The night of the rock throwing, a
group of women stayed in camp and talked with each other, laughing
often. I believe these sounds caught the attention of a local
bigfoot and brought it in for a closer look.

Lonni shared photographs of an
indistinct track way through the grass with us, and told us of his
encounter the night before with something that gave him a low growl
that he could “feel through his body.” While no visual sighting
was had, the context strongly suggests that a bigfoot came by to see
what was going on.

Our last night investigation took place
a short distance away from Lonni and Donna's encounter location. We
were to be using a mechanical deer to try to draw any predators (or
other animals) out into the open so we could film them. The deer looked great
until it was made to move by using a remote control. Its head would
slowly twist right to left, and its tail would slowly flick up and
down. It strongly reminded me of the Washington episode from first
season with that remote control goose cam. Like the goose cam, it
was clear that the
technology for remote controlled deer is lacking. After a few wiggles solely
for the sake of the camera, I let the deer just be still. I thought
it might have a better chance to draw something out that way.

Cliff and a friend

While Ranae and I were in the hunting
blind with the thermal camera, Bobo and Matt climed a nearby hill to
do calls. We were hoping their calls would draw some attention to
the meadows below where Ranae and I were stationed. At one point,
Matt claimed to have heard a bigfoot vocalization through the
parabolic dish he was using. Bobo did not hear it at the time, and
the recording was faint and muddy.

Down below, Ranae and I heard a very
interesting sound. It sounded like a clear, high pitched tone,
almost like a bell tone, but clearly organic. We both agreed that it
was unlikely to be from a coyote, and neither of us knows what
made the noise. It came from a good distance, and much further away than the coyotes we had been hearing off and on for several hours. The call was made twice, and not heard again.

The Canadian Rockies were a challenging
place to go bigfooting. The area is simply huge, and there are very
few roads penetrating the higher elevations. Not a lot of sightings
come out of the area were were in, but then again, there aren't a ton
of people there either. What people there are stay in the cities, or on the few roads
that are available. Still, the witnesses we spoke to at the meeting,
the lore and knowledge shared with us by the Stoney Nakota First
Nation Tribe, as well as the sightings we investigated leave little
doubt that bigfoots live in the area.

Hi my name is Bobo. I like long walks in the forest with my pet deer, candlelight dinners in a fishing boat on raging seas, and camping with my dog "Monkey". If you're rich I'm "single" Call me at BR549

I love your notes, Cliff. Its too bad alot of this stuff doesn't make the show, but I've worked on a few tv programs and know how that is, it was never easy to get fish to cooperate with filming, it has to be monumentally hard with something as elusive as a sasquatch. I'm so glad there are folks like you taking this seriously and may someday have the proof to get these animals recognized and protected. Even though its clipped for entertainment, I think the show on Animal Planet helps get people interested and aware. Keep up the good work.

Comment about Mr. Standing's strange behavior... "We met Todd on a rainy day in an empty campground where several bigfoot encounters had happended over the previous several years. He refused to take a jacket or use any rain gear, claiming it was not cold. He was soon shivering in a wet, cotton shirt, maintaining his position that it was a nice day"

I'm no psychologist, nor do I play one on TV, but this strange behavior seems to me like this is someone who does NOT like to be wrong. Just my opinion.

Thanks so much Cliff for the detailed notes.It was especially thrilling for me because the Kananaskis area is where I research every weekend.Obviously I haven't found anything yet,but just being out in nature and the quiet is a reward in itself.The Kananaskis,Bannf,Lake Louise area is vast and there have been sightings due north of the Rockies.The land is heavily forested but much more forgiving.I'm so happy you made it to Canada and my home Province.As for Mr. Standing,all of you made the right call.By the way,Grizzly bears are all through the area,as well as cougars,coyotes and wolves.It's quite rare to sneak up one any of them.I'm sure you already know that though.Thanks again!

Matt is up to his old games of trying to convince the uninformed audience that he knows where the bigfoot are going to be next, or that he can produce results by simply walking towards noise. Yet the editor consistently drops those story lines in hopes that the viewer will not notice that Matt does not have a clue as to what he is doing. The bigfoot know the difference between a man howling and a bigfoot, and can see infra red light, leaving you guys with no tools left in your bag. So far, after some 14 or so episodes, no convincing audio recordings have been captured, only one ambiguous thermal was captured, but we are left entirely with taking your word that you guys know how to recognize a bigfoot, despite the fact that you cannot back it up with even the tiniest sample of corroborating evidence. No wonder you have not won Renee over. And one last thing. I don't believe that anybody who knows anything about the BFRO, would not have guessed well in advance that Matt would slam a non-BFRO field researcher. Showing professionalism and respect for the work of other field researchers, has never been in the BFRO Code of Conduct.